Review – Damascus Gear: Operation Tokyo HD

Prelude

RAGE, unpiloted Gears (mechs) with corrupt AI, are slowly killing off the world’s population forcing humanity underground. You’re a pilot of an Anti-RAGE Gear unit called Freya, a group tasked with destroying RAGE and taking back Earth’s surface.

Damascus Code: Operation Tokyo HD is an HD remake of 2014’s Damascus Code: Operation Tokyo with all the DLC included and a new chapter that takes place after the main story.

Play

Damascus Code: Operation Tokyo HD is a single-player, isometric, mission-based, hack and slash mech game with customizable mechs. Pilot your gear through waves of various enemy RAGE with ranged, melee, and ultra weapons. Your Gear also has boosters for making short dashes out of harm’s way or boosting through empty areas of the map and the ability to use repair kits to restore health.

Missions have various completion conditions. On some, you just have to destroy all RAGE in the area. Other, a specific type of RAGE units or an ultra-strong RAGE. There are missions where you’ll have to escort things, somewhere you just need to survive, and other where your only objective is to navigate to a certain area of the map.

Between missions, you can customize your Gear with parts salvaged from enemy RAGE or purchased from the shop. Each part of your gear can be swapped out and painted from a choice from a multitude of colors. Your Gear can also hold a weapon in each hand, plus a back mounted ultra-weapon.

There’s a thin story tossed into the mix, but there’s really nothing of much substance considering your enemy is a soulless machine. The story is completely one-sided, and basically there to get you from mission to mission.

Pixels

While the graphics in Damascus Gear: Operation Tokyo HD are nothing to write home about, they’re not too bad, either. Gears are impressive looking, and the maps varied enough. Things can get a bit hectic looking with a ton of Gears on the map, or with giant lasers taking up much of screen, but it’s something you get used to over time. The biggest issue on the visual front is now little variation there is in the enemy RAGE.

The sound is pretty generic, as is the music. It doesn’t get in the way, nor does it really add to gameplay at all. It’s just there.

Perspective

Like I stated earlier, Damascus Gear: Operation Tokyo HD has pretty much no story, generic music and sound, and visuals that are purely functional. That being said the game is still a blast to play. It’s a button-mashing mech game where you’re cutting down swarms of enemy mechs with all sorts of cool weapons.

Overall there’s a little over 50 missions to complete, which feels like just enough to have a great time with the game without getting stale. Gear customization will keep you playing “one more mission” just to see what cool stuff you’ve salvaged or can purchase in the store.

Damascus Gear: Operation Tokyo HD is short, sweet, and overall a solid play experience. Sadly, it’s not a game that I think is worth going back to once you’ve finished it. Hopefully it’s good enough that we’ll see another, more in-depth, title in the series in the future.

A PS4 key for Damascus Gear: Operation Tokyo HD was provided free for review by Arc System Works.

Media personality Rob Kalajian has been a staple in the board game world for many years. As a former writer for Purple Pawn and the owner of A Pawn’s Perspective, Rob focuses on board game reviews, events, and news. A self-proclaimed geek, Rob loves all things toys and games and even helps raise his four kids in his spare time.